Three days after twisting his ankle in the fourth quarter of USF's 49-16 loss to Rutgers on Saturday, quarterback Matt Grothe was still wearing a protective boot on his injured left foot Tuesday afternoon but remained confident he'll play in Sunday's home finale against Connecticut.

"My leg's all right, will be all right come Sunday," said Grothe, who will not practice today and might be held out Wednesday as well. "I'm really looking forward to this game Sunday, prime time in the lights, ESPN, against a really good team."

Grothe hasn't missed a game in his three seasons as starter, starting the last 35 games for the Bulls. If he can't go, USF would turn to senior Grant Gregory, who has attempted just 15 passes this season and played the final drive in Saturday's loss. USF coach Jim Leavitt said Tuesday he wasn't concerned about the potential of Grothe not being available.

"I wouldn't want anybody else in there, other than Matt," Leavitt said. "Matt would go out there with one leg if he had to. He'd hobble through it. Matt wouldn't have come out of the game (Saturday) if it wasn't for me. I'm the one that said 'Get Grant in there.' There was no point in Matt being in there anymore. Matt would have stayed in.

"We'll keep him in a boot a few days. We'll keep him in a boot all the way up to pregame warmups if we need to. He'll go out and play. He's the guy. He's the guy who's going to play."

Leavitt said Grothe would not practice Tuesday and "probably" not Wednesday, leaving him two days of practice in preparation for Sunday. Grothe's mobility is especially important because he is USF's leading rusher, with 393 yards this season. If you take away yards lost on sacks, Grothe has gained 588 yards, nearly twice as much as any of USF's running backs.